The present invention relates to a bath station for a small child and more particularly to a bath station that provides support for a child during bathing and collapses to a smaller volume for storage and transport.
In the past, bathing tubs have been sized appropriately to fit a small child as well as provide additional support to the child. However, any additional support provided usually supports the child in a reclining or a supine position and does not provide support while the child is in a sitting or upright position other than a simple back rest. Furthermore, these tubs do not collapse the size of the bath cavity. As a result, these baby tubs are difficult to store because of the large storage volume area of the bath cavity and also do not provide any frontal support to a sitting child.
The present invention is therefore directed to an apparatus for a small child bath station which overcomes the above-noted and other disadvantages of prior bathing tubs. The present invention has a bathing compartment constructed of a pair of tub sections, each section having a bottom wall and a side wall with the side wall extending about three sides of the bottom wall. The tub sections are attached through latching means to releasably lock the sections together to form a waterproof seal and when released, enables the two sections to collapse together to reduce its storage volume. The bath station may also have a support ring mounted to one of the tub sections. The support ring is movable to an operative position to support a child in a sitting position within the tub compartment. The support ring also may be moved to an inoperative position out of the way of the bath tub compartment to provide room in the bath tub compartment for a child in a reclined position or for a child able to support himself or herself in a sitting position.
Various embodiments of the present invention provide certain advantages and overcome certain drawbacks of prior devices and systems. Embodiments of the invention may not share the same advantages, and those that do, may not share them under all circumstances. This being said, the present invention provides numerous advantages including the noted advantage of reducing storage area and augmenting support of a child in a sitting position.
Further features and advantages of the present invention as well as the structure and method of making various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.